Page 10 of Wolf Roulette

The man nodded. “Your wolf can leave if she wants. I’m not moving.”

Get that?I asked her.

I’ll make him move.

We both knew that was bullshit. There was a definite difference in power between this wolf and me. My instincts warned that taking him on would be a huge mistake.

Did Luthers gain power as they aged?

“Your mind is busy, young wolf.” He cast off. “You’ll scare the fish away.”

“Sorry,” I said demurely. “I’ll think quieter.”

He shot me a suspicious look, and I jotted a number on my Sudoku.

“Busy week you’ve had,” he said next.

“Weren’t you worried about scaring fish?”

As he grinned, the wolf displayed sharp teeth that my peripherals couldn’t fail to notice. “Here I thought you may be interested in what’s happening. I’ve come from a pack meeting.”

“Keep it to yourself, old wolf.” Who was this guy anyway? Only important Luthers sat in on pack meetings.

His brows climbed. “Old wolf. That might be a first.” The Luther twitched the line. “The tribe came out on top of the Stabattse negotiations.”

My curiosity sharpened despite myself. “How?”

“Sascha made an official complaint about your attack on our marshal. We knew the tribe would come back with the kidnapping and injury of their steward.”

Wade.

“They surprised us with something else.” The wolf reeled in his line and cast again with a flick of his wrist. “The new head steward raised the point that you were bitten in Water resulting in the transformation to a werewolf. She considered this fate synonymous with death.”

Ouch. Apparently, I was dead to Rhona.

“The loss of head stewardship must have hurt.” The wolf changed the bait on his hook.

“Nope. Never wanted it.”

“Truth.”

That surprised him? Cool. “What was the verdict?”

“Daniil’s biting offence occurred outside of Victratum and therefore carried a steeper consequence. The pack earned three penalty points.”

Shit.Hefty. Five penalty points resulted in the loss of a grid. I’d use those points to tribe advantage well and truly.

… But the head team would guide Rhona on that.Jesus,I had to stop agonising over this stuff.

“You’re surprised,” he murmured.

I shrugged a shoulder. “Yes and no.”

“Well,” the wolf cast again, “you may be interested to know the next grid is Sandstone.”

I’d assumed it would be.

“We have an airtight strategy.”

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